Common Cottongrass

Common Name: Common Cottongrass

Latin Name: Eriophorum angustifolium

Family: Cyperaceae (Sedge family)

There are two species of cottongrass in the Yorkshire Dales, common and hare's-tail cottongrass. Both of these species have cotton-like flower and seed heads which were formerly used to stuff pillows in Suffolk and for wound-dressings in Scotland during the First World War. The common cottongrass, also known as ghost-grass, has leaves that have a V-shape in cross section, purplish-red leaf tips and flowers consisting of three to seven cotton-like spikelets.

This species is common on wet bog habitats throughout the British Isles. In the Yorkshire Dales National Park it is common in bogs, on acidic flushes and beside moorland streams above 300m.